Cooking apparatus.



R. J. WORKMAN. I COOKING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED mnnzo, 1912.

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WITNESSES:

INVENTOR I A onumz Patented Jan l3, 1914,

R. J. WORKMAN.

COOKING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED nnmzo, 1912.

Patented Jan. 13, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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i on :7 ru 1 6913 32 3 d vi e To oZZ whom it may concern it known that l, honour J. lORKMAN, citizen oi' the United States, residing in city and county of Frencisco and State of Cahfornnt, have invented new and useful improvements in Ooolnng 'lng apparatus wherein may be manipulated multiplicity of cans conteinings goods, the machine being provided and designed for the purpose of conserving the heating medium, as steam, and also being evolved with the oloject ot occupying as SII'iill :1 floor space and consuming as little power is possible.

lhe invention consists of a. reservoir or other suitable container for a heated fluid and of means for feeding and receiving cans to and from a cooking or processing chamber.

Figure l is a. sideolevotion of the apps.- ratus partly in section- Fig. 2 is an end view of the apparatus partly in section. 3 is Mdctail view of the intake end of the cooking chamber. Fit 4; on edge view of one oi the conveyor links. Fig, 5 shows a modified term of link.

llfiy inve tion conumehcnds on apparatus Ich cons, us 2, Fig 1, may be subjected to the necessary processing temperature tor the requisite period, and in its illustrated form inchuies a, pressiu'e or heating chhmber 3, which I pr fer to form in shape as a zigverticelly arranged continuous flue; the advantage of the char-m vertical arrange ment being that the can when. admitted to the upper end of the zig-ceg chamber will, naturally, gravitate along the inclined courses or stretches and uutonnuically udvnnce to feed from course to comse around the curved bonds 4 of the line or chmnber, finally discharging at the lowermostend chamber 3 the requisite long-t h of time, which is dctercooked, and utter having n'i-ined by the nature of the n'niteriol being" been subjected to a temperature also determined by the nature of the, ma teriul.

The substantial line like chamber 3 may Specification of Letters llntented Jon. it it. will,

ntention filed June no, 1912. Serial Into. 76 2,8531.

include as many inclined courses as may be desired and each of the courses may be of desired length and thus the capacity of the apparatus may be readily controlled merely by the increase of the length or height of I the tortuous chamber 3.

The chamber may be heated by the admission of steam or heated air, or any other medium, and in this instance I have shown a'stcum pipe connection 5 for admitting steam to the flue chamber 3.

For the purpose of tcedingcons c0ntaining goods to be cooked to the chamber 3, I have provided an endless carrier conveyer or feedingmechanism illustrated here as consisting of u sprocket chain 6, the links of which may he formed with cylindrical transverse heads 7 forming not only lugs for receiving and carrying cans, but also forming steam tightmovublc packings or pistons which tire guided successively into an intake or transverse tubular extension connecting with the flue. The extension 8 is provided at its upper portion with a can intake 9 from which cans may bc'delivered into the path of the conveyor 6, the length of the extension 8 being sullicicnt to allow a plurality of the packing" pistons 7 to be at. one time encon1- passed, no that steam or other heating medium in the cooking-chnmbcr 3 will be predi l vented from escaping past the inwardly moving links of the chain, the piston heads acting as movable puckings. As a can is carried from the intake 9 and approaches the upper end of the inclined tortuous channber 3. the can will roll from the open side of the chain link, as shown in Fig. 3, down the incline to the bottmn ot' the cooking chamber.

means of the conveyor 6 a number of cans can he successively deposited iutho cooker, and these will automatically gruvitote through the course oi the chamber 3, the period of time which each can will occiuiy being determined according to the dcsired length of cook to be given. The onus having been exposed in the cooker the desired length of time will be removed therefrom by the some conveyor chain 6 which is formed to travel in a circuitmis path and lower course 10 which traverses the lower end of the cooker chamber 8, and the cans from the cooker will enter the pockets between the pistons of the chain and by the movement. of the chain be carried trans versely from the cooker and discharged from lit? a suitable extension 11 through steam pressure is greatly conserved. The

steam which enters between the pistons 7 and the conveyer 6, in the intake cylinder 9, is discharged into the sealed compartment 14. Eventually the pressure in this cham ber is substantially the same as the pressure in the cooking apparatus so that as the cans are discharged from the exit cylinder 11 the only loss of steam that takes place is at this point, there being no loss of steam due to which the the machanism for introducing the cans into 1 the cooker.

In order to provide for the free release of cans from and the infeeding of cans to the conveyer chain, the piston heads 7 of each link are properly spaced and the heads are connected at one side of their diameter by a tie 7, thus leaving the diametrically opposite side of the chain links between the heads 7 entirely open so that the cans, as they enter the upper stretch of the Cooking chamber 3, can roll freely from between adjacent link heads 7 and likewise roll as freely into the space between the link heads at the bottom course of the cooker chambet 3.

The conveyer chain is supported and operated by'suitably driven sprockets 12 and idlers 12 which are arranged on opposite sides of the cooker chamber 3 so that there Will be an upper stretch of chain from which cans can,be fed into the upper portion of the cooker, and a lower stretch, as 10, to receive the cans from the cooker.

The length of time or period of cooking to which the goods in the cans may be subjected may be determined by the speed of travel'of the chain which will remove cans from the lower end of the cooking chamber.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have evolved and provided a cooking apparatus in which I employ a steam orother heating chamber which may be subjected to fluid at the necessary temperature. and that I may successively and successfully introduce and take cans from a cooking chamher without a material percentage of loss of the heating medium in the cooker, which is one of the important advantages of the present invention, it being oneof the purposes to so design a cooker that the operation of cooking the material in cans can be continuously performed without the usual loss of time and expenditure of labor in starting and stopping cooking processes for loading and unloading as now ordinarily performed. In my invention the cooking process can be carried on continuously without requiring the opening and closing intermittently for any period of time of the cooking chamber, so that once this has become.

dium from the chamber by the employment of a can conveyer which has provisions for packing coiiperating elements with which jointure is made by the chain links, the links forming packings to prevent the escape of any material quantity of steam during the loading and unloading of the cooker. I

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 4 1. A device of the class described comprising a plurality of inclined tubes arranged in a vertical stack, the ends of said tubes being connected. by curved bends to form a continuous passageway, mechanism for introducing cans into the upper end of said passageway and removing said cans from the lower end of said passageway, said mechanism including an upper cylinder connected with the upper end of said passageway, a lower cylinder connected with the lower end of said passageway, a chamber connecting said upper cylinder with said lower cylinder, and a chain carrying pistons adapted to fit the said cylinders, said chain being mounted to enter said upper cylinder, pass through the chamber connecting said cylinders and pass out through the lower cylinder.

2. In a device of the class described in combination, a cooking chamber comprising a continuous tortuous sealed chamberforming a run-way for cans and adapted to retain a hot fluid under pressure, means for introducing cans to said cooking chamber, said means comprising an upper cylinder provided with a side entrance to said cooking chamber, a lower cylinder provided with an opening leading to the exit of said cooking chamber, a sealed compartment connecting said upper cylinder and said lower cylinder, an endless carrierprovided with pistons, and sprockets arranged to direct said carrier through the said cylindersand the sealed compartment.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT WVORKMAN.

Witnesses JOHN H. HEnRrNc, Gnnnvrnvn S. DONELIN. 

